


Treasured

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, Established Relationship, M/M, Moving In Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-25
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-02-22 13:12:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2509061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Where did you even get all this junk, anyway?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Treasured

**Author's Note:**

> written for LJ community "mcsheplets" prompt #187 "treasure"

The real problem of moving in together, John thought, looking around what were about to be formerly Rodney’s quarters, was that Rodney just had too much stuff.

“Where did you even get all this junk, anyway?” he asked, putting another crate in the stack by the door. He’d given up on letting Rodney pack up his own room after three weeks of random boxes showing up haphazardly at their new place, and he’d offered to lug all the really heavy ones if Rodney actually finished packing everything up.

“You know,” said Rodney, dumping a pile of t-shirts unceremoniously into another crate. “Places.”

“Uh-huh,” said John. “And that’s why nobody _else’s_ room is full of… Hey, what’s this?”

It was an old clear plastic scientific sample case, with a hairline crack in one side to show why it had been pulled from official use, and holding something wrapped in black fabric.

“Hey, Rodney, what’s this?” John asked again, but Rodney, still half-inside his closet and tossing things back out, said, “No, no, I was under the impression you weren’t a _complete_ idiot, Radek,” so John decided to just open the box himself.

Inside the black fabric was the green crystal personal shield, which stayed dark in John’s hand as he picked it up. Under the next fold were three iridescent blue scales, two singed chess pieces and a stack of post-it notes in John’s own handwriting tied with a broken shoelace. In the next layer, he found a hair clip that must have been Elizabeth’s, a fishing lure made by the original Carson, a uniform patch that read _Ford_.

As John laid each item on Rodney’s for-once-clear desktop— a piece of fringe from Teyla’s favorite jacket, a bead from Ronon’s dreadlocks, a pigeon feather Radek used to use for good luck, one of Torren’s baby teeth in a test tube— he realized that the black fabric was actually another piece of the collection, one of his own t-shirts with two clear bullet holes and a few stubborn blood stains.

“Sheppard, get over here and help me with—” Rodney stepped back into the room, apparently done arguing with Radek, and stopped short. “Oh.”

“What is all this?” John, a little wonderingly.

Rodney’s shoulders slumped. “C’mon, Sheppard, you already know how pathetic I am.”

“You’re not pathetic,” John said, sharply. “I think it’s… nice. Having pieces of the people you care about. But why these pieces?”

“Oh,” Rodney said again. When John held out a hand, he took it, leaning against the desk where John had laid out his treasures. “Well, I _had_ been hoping we’d be able to recharge the shield. But then, it just reminded me of you, of us having fun together, like we were friends.”

“We _were_ friends,” John protested, and Rodney smiled.

“I know that now. But you were my first real friend in a long time, and I hadn’t wanted to get my hopes up, in case you—”

John kissed him quiet, sliding one hand around Rodney’s jaw— he had a standing policy of kissing Rodney whenever he talked like that— and the scientist melted into him for a moment before pulling away.

“Do you want to hear this or not?” Rodney demanded, but he was smiling too much for his scowl to work.

“Sorry,” said John, equally failing to keep a straight face. “Continue.”

“Well,” said Rodney. “We lost Ford, then Carson, the Elizabeth.. and I thought I should have something to remember them by. And then I thought about how dangerous our jobs are here, and Torren had never even heard of the Tooth Fairy, and…”

“Yeah,” said John. “I get those. I have a couple of things like that, too. But why the hell did you keep those, Rodney?”

His hand hovered over the blue scales, hesitant to touch them even though they’d once been part of his skin. Rodney reached past him to pick one up, sliding his thumb along the scale’s smooth edge.

“You were beautiful, John,” he said, softly. “I know you thought you were turning into a monster— and, admittedly, there were some serious impulse-control issues we’d have had to deal with if Carson hadn’t found a cure— but you _were_ beautiful.”

“I—” John began, but this time Rodney kissed him, and turnabout was fair play. “Okay. I… okay. How about I pack these back up for you? I know a spot in our new closet where they’ll be safe.”

Rodney smiled and kissed him again. “Yeah.”

THE END


End file.
